Gladiator Metals raising $12 million for Yukon drilling
Gladiator Metals Corp. [GLAD-TSXV, GDTRF-OTC-Pink, ZX7-FSE] said it is increasing the size of a previously announced non-brokered private placement financing that is now expected to raise $12 million, up from the earlier $10 million target. Proceeds are earmarked for drilling at the company’s Whitehorse Copper Project, an advanced-stage copper, molybdenum, silver, gold skarn exploration target located in the Yukon.
Under the terms of the offering, Gladiator will issue 17 million charity flow-through common shares priced at 61 cents each, as well as 1.07 million non-flow-through common shares priced at 40 cents each. The offering is expected to close on June 21, 2024. Gladiator is focused on advancing the Whitehorse Copper Project, an advanced-stage copper-molybdenum-silver-gold skarn exploration project in the Canadian Yukon. The project covers approximately 5,380 hectares in the Whitehorse Mining District.
On June 11, 2024, Gladiator shares were trading at 46 cents in a 52-week range of 58 cents and 26 cents.
Gladiator pledged to acquire a 100% interest in the Whitehorse Project under a six-year option deal announced in November, 2022. The optionor is H. Coyne & Son Ltd. It can exercise the option by spending $12 million on the project, making staged payments of $300,000 in cash and issuing 15 million shares over six years. Once the option is exercised, the company must pay the optionor, a 1.0% net smelter returns royalty on the Whitehorse Copper Project.
Last year, the company completed a maiden 2,632-metre diamond drilling program at the Whitehorse Project, which covers 133 square kilometres in the Whitehorse Mining District. The maiden program targeted the Cowley Park prospect. In a press release on June 5, 2023, the company said it has received assay results from the first seven of 14 holes.
“All holes returned significant intercepts confirming the width and continuity of mineralization previously targeted at Cowley Park with mineralization remaining open in all directions, with results including hole CPG-006, which returned 16 metres at 2.36% copper from 79 metres within 92 metres of 0.71% copper from 67 metres.
“These shallow results confirm the continuity of copper skarn mineralization at Cowley Park as well as highlighting the potential for a larger mineralized envelope, not previously considered, or tested by previous operators,’’ the company said in a press release.
In an exploration update on June 3, 2024, the company said significant undrilled large scale magnetic anomalies have been identified from recently completed drone magnetic surveys along strike from the historical mining operations at the Cowley Park and Cub Trend deposits.
Proceeds of the upsized private placement financing will be used to fund continued diamond drilling of advanced prospects Cowley Park and Chief’s Trend with the intention of establishing a maiden initial inferred resource. The company is also planning for new exploration drilling at potential high-grade copper targets along the Whitehorse Copper Belt defined from historical drilling and aeromagnetic surveying.